Omega
by charmsnitch364
Summary: Garfield wasn't the only person in Bialya. In this short story, his childhood friend, and closest confidante, comes to life. Meet Libby, a normal girl. At least, that's what he thinks... Powerful one-shot that involves described torture (Kids, it's rated high for a reason). Just whatever you do, don't open the bands... I only own Libby.


My name is Libby Yanchus. I have had the worst days of my life, all in one year. All because of a horrifying accident. After the sacrifice of a beloved teammate, Young Justice had no idea that their new adventure, had just begun. I was far from the chrysalis at the time, with my mother. Since our neighbors, the Logans had died, our farm was pretty quiet. No surprise visits from Garfield, no long phone calls with Marie. We didn't even watch Hello, Megan! anymore. But that day, the day after Kid Flash died, Wally West landed on my porch. It was a new porch, the strongest model we could find. But he broke it like had landed on toothpicks. He groaned, and tried to sit up, but he was too weak. I was also on the porch, and had been thrown back a couple meters when he landed. I stared at him, in his destroyed costume. Luckily, I didn't see anything that would have been awkward later. But his mask was gone.

"Mom! Someone just fell on our porch!" I yelled.

"That's nice!" she yelled back, distracted. I sighed, and tried to pick him up. He was surprisingly light, and I carried him inside with success. He groaned a bit, and opened one eye slightly.

"Stay still. You probably have a concussion." I said. That's when my mom walked in. She gasped, but got straight to work. She's a doctor, if you didn't know.

"Call the ambulance. " she told me, but the boy grabbed my arm

"No..call the team. Call...the allens...Artemis..." he moaned I nodded, but I had no idea who any of those people were. I grabbed the phone book, but I didn't find anyone under any of those names. I even searched for the Justice League, but that wasn't there either. I walked back to my mom, and stopped in my tracks. The boy had no injuries, and was sitting up normally.

"After that fall?" my mom said incredulously. He shook his head.

"I'm fine, really. I just need to be on my way." He sprinted towards the door, then stopped, shocked.

"My powers! They're not working!" He shook his hand in front of his face, but nothing happened. I looked at him, sorta creeped out.

"Definitely a concussion." she said, nodding. He looked at me, almost pleading. Then I put two and two together. The ruined costume, the power freakout, even how he got here. This could save me. This boy was my ticket to freedom, one-way.

"You're one of the American heroes, aren't you?" I asked. He smiled, and nodded. Then his smile froze.

"Where am I?" he asked urgently.

"Um, our family farm, Byalia. Does that help?" I offered. He looked freaked.

"The chrysalis! Man, Artemis is going to kill me." he said quickly. He started pacing around the room, but then he looked down.

"Aw, man! My costume!" he said, then panicked, touching his face. Realizing he had no mask, he began pulling his bangs to cover his face, a failed attempt.

"There's no point to that. We've seen your face. Besides, I don't even know which hero you are. Speedy?" I asked. He narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Kid Flash. Speedy is Red Arrow now. Do you have a car I can borrow?" he replied.

"It's in the middle of the night. Why don't you sleep here. In the morning, we'll help you find your team." my mom offered. He opened his mouth to refuse, but he thought better of it. "Yes, that would be great." he replied. As soon as he was settled, my mom came into my room.

"Do you think...you know, he can help you?" she asked. I shook my head. "But his team can."

In the morning, I woke to the sound of the sewing machine. I pulled my cardigan on, having a slight difficulty around my wrists. I walked into the living room to see Kid Flash at my sewing table, creating a patchwork mask. He was wearing my brother's old jeans and t-shirt, which I was surprised to recognize so quickly.

"Why would you need a mask? You look normal." I pointed out. He stopped, and stared at me.

"Secret identity to protect, remember? " he said.

"Middle of nowhere, remember? " I mocked.

"Not for long. Watch this." he said mischievously. Before I could ask him what he meant, he zoomed across the room at a superspeed.

"Not my fastest. But I should be home in an hour." he said. I was speechless.

"Kid Flash? I have something to ask you." my mom said from the corner of the room. I jumped, not noticing she was there.

"Sure, ask away." he said, oblivious to my negative gestures towards my mom.

"Take Libby with you. She needs your team more then you think." she said.

"I guess, but why?" he asked, curious.

"I'll tell you when we get there." I said, a bit nervous. He nodded, and I wondered if he understood. Did he know someone with a life-changing secret? Or used to know?

"I'll bring her there, but only because I like the t-shirt." he said lightly. He picked me up, and we were off.

When we stopped, I was, well, confused.

"This doesn't look like a secret base." I said.

"No, this is Gotham. There's a portal here. Well, it's somewhere around here." Kid Flash turned around, and another superhero appeared out of nowhere. I gasped, and Kid Flash turned around. His confusion quickly broke into a grin. The other hero looked like he had seen a ghost.

"Wally?" he whispered. I was about to tease KF mercilessly, when I noticed it was not the time.

"Dick!" he said cheerfully. I looked at him in shock. 'Dick' noticed me at about the same time.

"Who's she?" Dick asked.

"I'm Libby. I'm here to meet the team. And possibly get your help." I said. Wally looked around, looking for the portal. I pointed to the wall.

"Ladies first."Kid Flash gestured to the bricks. I shrugged.

"Override. Libby, B24" he said, so I jumped into the wall. A few seconds later, I was in a large room full of glaring superheroes. An arrow pinned me to the wall by my shirt.

"Who are you, Libby?" an angry girl with tiger stripes asked.

"Um, Libby?" I offered, but she only glared at me more.

"You picked the wrong day to mess with us." a green girl said, but she looked very familiar. Almost as if I knew her...

"Did you say Libby?" a familiar voice asked. A green, furry boy pushed to the front of the crowd. His mouth dropped open when he saw me.

"You!" he said, and I realized who he was.

"Garfield? " My mouth dropped open. "How...you?" I stammered, panicked. Then I recognized the girl. "Marie? You're alive!" I hugged Garfield, and went to hug Marie, when she backed away.

"I'm not Marie, but I look a lot like her. You know her, Beast Boy?" she asked.

"Beast Boy?" I asked, confused. Gar-Beast Boy nodded.

"Yeah,, she was our closest neighbour. What are you doing here?" he asked. I opened my mouth to explain, but I was cut off.

"Recognized, Kid Flash, B03." a mechanical voice called. Wally materialized behind me. The tiger-girl dropped her bow.

"Artemis?" he asked. The tigeress, Artemis, barreled into him.

"Wally, I can't believe...How did...Don't you EVER do that again, or you'll wish you had died!" she yelled, tears running down her face.

"You have some explaining to do." a boy said, behind Artemis.

"So, I came in, and you know the rest." Wally finished.

"There's something you haven't told us yet. Why did she come with you?" Robin asked (The introductions already passed.).

"Actually, that's something I'm wondering myself. " Wally asked. I shuffled my feet nervously.

"Um, well, I...I had an incident, about three months after Garfield left. I don't know what happened exactly. There was a ship, and so much pain, and aliens. But one day, I ran away. I felt weird, powerful. I had gotten about a kilometre away when something shot out of my hands. It was some kind of energy. Then, I sorta floated, like flying. Iwas too scared, too weak. They found me a week later. After they really finished, they gave me to something, I don't know what. It suppressed my powers, and dumped me four metres from my house. I was there ever since." I explained. No one said anything for a while.

"How did they supress your powers?" Batgirl asked.

"With these." I pulled my sleeves up, to show the golden bands. "They're around my waist, and ankles, too." Nightwing examined them, intrigued. Beast Boy looked at me, shocked.

"Wow, have you tried taking them off?" Impulse asked. I nodded.

"But I need the key. I was hoping you could help me." I answered. Impulse tried vibrating through it, but he was sent skidding back. Robin pulled out a lockpick, and begn working on my right ankle. Batgirl and Nightwing joined him. Beast Boy turned into a fly, and flew in. Then he turned into a gorilla. When the band snapped, all the others clicked open. I was immediatly surrounded by a purple aura. A ball of energy hit Wally in the chest, and he was sent flying.

"No!" I yelled, curling into a floating fetus position as my powers attacked everyone around me. After a while, Artemis clicked the band back around my waist. I fell to the floor, exhausted. The world began swimming, then disappeared altogether.

"Libby? You okay?" Garfield was standing over me. I was in some kind of hospital bed, in a small infirmary.

"What happened? Is everyone okay?" I asked, a little panicked.

"Everyone's fine. But it's you that I'm worried about. Everyone is in a meeting. I think we're gonna train you. But I don't know for sure." he replied. I sat up, a bit dizzy.

"They can't, I don't want to hurt anyone!" I said, trying to stand up. Immediatly, a wave of dizziness rushed over me, and I almost fell over, but Beast Boy held me steady.

"Easy, sit down. Besides, they've faced worse. I don't think it'd be too bad." he reassured me. I looked at him, and a memory flashed before my eyes. When he had run into my room, scared. Almost four years ago.

"It's getting worse. Look!" he said, showing me his wrist. A large green patch, slightly larger then the day before. I blinked, and shook the memory out of my head. Ms. Martian opened the door.

"Libby, we've decided that I'm going to help you learn to use your powers. If you want, Beast Boy can come with you, for a familiar face." she offered. I nodded, scared.

Two days later, Ms. Martian handed me a key.

"When you're ready, use this. Nightwing made it." she said. I took a deep breath, nodded, and unlocked the band around my waist. Immediately, the aura came back.

"Libby! I want you to concentrate! Imagine that the band is back around your waist. Imagine that there is no aura, no energy." she shouted. I concentrated, and the aura faded a bit, but then doubled in size.

"Concentrate! No power, no energy." she yelled. I concentrated much harder, and my skin started to bruise from the effort.

"Be careful, you are hurting yourself." she soothed. The aura faded, untill there was only a faint purple glow. Garfield picked up a target.

"Now, I want you to concentrate on the target." Ms. Martian said. I concentrated, and a bolt flew out of my hand, and blew the target across the room, Beast Boy still clinging on. I lost my concentration, and the aura returned. Ms. Martian clicked the band back around, and it faded.

"That was great! All you need is a little more practise." she said encouragingly. I managed to stay standing, and I reached for the key again.

"Then I will practise." I said, unlocking it. I started the process again. I tried again and again for at least an hour, until I managed to make the aura vanish with no effort. But I put the band back on anyway. I didn't want to lose control again.

"I think that's enough for today. Maybe you can train with us tomorrow. I'll talk to Nightwing about it. He's back for good. And as leader." Ms. Martian added to Garfield. He smiled, and started picking up peices of targets. As I bent over to pick up a large one, a man burst into the room.

"Beast Boy. Urgent meeting. Now. And who's she?" the man in a dark grey costume asked. Before I could introduce myself, Garfield grabbed my arm, and followed the man.

When we arrived, Nightwing was already at a large computer, typing in a random series of numbers and letters.

"There has been a series of attacks on girls all over America. Most reached their thirteenth birthday recently. And none of them were obviously harmed. Just examined. Almost as if they are searching for something. Our job is to find out what these people are searching for. Their next target is probably Tanya Shores. We will intercept them there, and hopefully stop them, or at least find out what they are doing." Nightwing explained.

"Okay, so who's going?" Rocket asked.

"Superboy, Kid Flash, Robin, Miss Martian, and Libby. Libby, this is a preview. I just want you to watch. If anything goes wrong, get out of there." he said to me. I nodded.

"Woah, are you sure we can trust her?" Superboy asked.

"Definitely. " Garfield answered. I smiled at him, encouraged.

"Let's go!" Robin said, and I followed them out of the room.

"Okay, the enemy is expected in about five minutes. Robin, protect Tanya. Miss Martian, Kid Flash, try to take them out. I'll help with that. Libby, stay with the ship." Superboy ordered. I nodded, and I watched as the team got into position. Exactly five minutes later, some unrecognizable figures ran to the house, but were knocked away by a flash of yellow and red. Kid Flash tried to punch one, but the attacker grabbed his fist, and knocked Wally out. Miss Martian attacked with trees and rocks, but one man threw a grenade at her, and she fell, unconscious. Superboy brought down at least five before he was tazered to the ground, twitching. Robin only brought two down when a net caught him, and hung him from a tree.

Tanya screamed, but the last one pulled a scanner from his pocket, and started scanning.

"Libby! Run!" Robin yelled, but I pulled out the key. I was about to unlock the band when something grabbed my arm. I whirled around to see one of the attackers. He knocked me to the ground, and scanned me. Something beeped.

"We found her! Call the others!" the one in front of me yelled. He grabbed my mouth, so that I couldn't scream, and picked me up, oblivious to my struggling.

"Libby!" Robin yelled. The man gassed me, and everything slowly faded.

"You let them get away? With Libby?" Beast Boy yelled. Robin looked down."She was my only friend before I met you guys, and she's gone!" Beast Boy glared at the others. Miss Martian looked like she would cry.

"Beast Boy, that's enough. We'll find her. But don't take it out on them." Nightwing said.

"We'd better." Beast Boy sat down, seething.

I woke to the sound of unfamiliar voices. I faintly wondered why, then remembered everything. I groaned, and opened my eyes. I was in some sort of large, green, energy box, and I my arms and legs were chained together, then to the roof of the container. A man was staring at me, through the box. I struggled, trying to get loose. He called something out to the others that I couldn't hear. They all looked at me.

"Let me out! Or I'll...um...well, you won't like it!" I shouted feebly. The man pressed a button on a remote, and an electric current ran through the chains, and into me. I screamed, and after a few seconds, he switched it off. Then, a couple people in strange suits made some notes. He pressed another button, and a microphone lifted out a panel nearby.

"Struggling is pointless. You will cooperate, even if you don't know it yet. After all, you much greater then all of the reach's other projects, even greater then Superboy." he said into it. I spat at the wall of the container. He pressed the button again, and another current swept through me like wildfire.

"Oh, we'll have so much fun together. " he said, smiling. A cold chill shivered up my spine. I don't know how long I went on like this. Pain, notes, more pain, notes. When he finally sent the note-takers away, I was shivering, and coughing up blood.

"Good night." the lead scientist said, smirking. The familiar gas filled the container, and I fell into a dreamless sleep.

The next day was even worse. They had chained me to a treadmill, and I was forced to run, for hours on end. There was a new team of scientists, but the head was still watching. Whenever I tried to stop, they would taser me into running again. When I thought I couldn't take anymore, it sped up, going faster and faster, until I collapsed, the treadmill skinning me. The leader gassed me, and when I woke, I was in a new type of torture, strength. I was forced to lift heavier and heavier weights, with my hands, feet, even back. When a water bottle was thrust at me, I took it, chugging it down in one sitting. Then, they chained me so that I hung from my wrists in the container. A man came in, and beat me, over and over again. I couldn't think, all I could do was beg for relief. And soon, I couldn't even beg. I must have been there for at least a week before it stopped. One day, I woke up, and there was no note-takers, no chains. Just the green container and the man. I was on my knees, coughing up blood, and bending my head, for I didn't have the strength to lift it. He grabbed my long hair, and pulled out some scissors. He cut my hair roughly, then jerked my head up to face him. He snapped a picture of me, then chained my wrists to the roof, and took a picture. He did the same with my waist, and ankles. Then he left me hanging by my ankles, my hans cuffed in front of me. I didn't see anyone for at least a day. Then he was back. And he took more pictures, then got the other man to beat me some more, then took more pictures of the beating. Then electrocuted me, and took pictures of that. All I wanted, was to die.

"Beast Boy? You're going to hate this." Nightwing called out. Garfield walked in, and gasped. Pictures, of Libby, with her hair cut, and hanging from a ceiling, and getting beat up.

"No..." he whispered, when he saw the last picture. Libby was on the floor, looking defeated, her eyes closed, and blood trickling out of her mouth. Then he saw the message.

SHE IS NOT DEAD. WE WANT HER ALIVE, AFTER ALL. SHE WILL DIE, IF WE CONTINUE WHAT WE ARE DOING. WHEN WE ARE DONE, WE WILL SELL HER. SHE IS A BETTER PROJECT THEN SUPERBOY EVER WAS. WE WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT IF YOU TRY TO FIND HER, IF YOU CONTACT HER, WE WILL KILL HER. FOR NOW, SHE WILL BE TREATED LIKE A TOOL, NOTHING MORE. BUT DO ANYTHING WRONG, SHE WILL BE PUNISHED.

Beast Boy stood up, and left.

"Where are you going?" Nightwing asked.

"We need to strategise, get a plan together." Miss Martian called.

"No. We need to find her. Before she dies." Beast Boy said, leaving the base.

About a week after the photos, I reached into my pocket, and found the key. I was beaten, and ready to die. And I wanted to die on my own terms. I unlocked the band, and the familiar aura appeared. I was too weak to concentrate, too weak to fight it. My powers tried to break through the container, but they couldn't. Suddenly, the band clicked around me again. The leader clucked his tongue.

"Not yet, but soon." he said, crushing the key in his fingers. He smacked me across the face, and I fell over, weak. A girl walked in, with some cloth in her hands. The leader left, and the girl lifted what turned out to be a dress.

"No." I hissed, and she pulled out the taser. I glared at her while I got changed. Turns out it wasn't a dress, but a jumpsuit, the kind they wore in prison. Except mine was an emerald green. I stuffed my jeans into her arms, and I winced slightly, the pain in my arms becoming unbearable. She left the room, and came back with a lot of needles.

"No, don't, please...unnh..." The first needle was a tranquilizer.

I felt like the world would end soon. I felt like I was already dead. I felt broken, defeated, when the green fly landed on my arm. I was hanging by my waist at the time, but I recognized him immediately.

"Beast...Garfiel...how..." I coughed up some blood. He buzzed into my lock, and broke it. I landed painfully on my arm. I cried out, and he turned into a horse.

"Get on, it's time to go." he said gently. I climbed on, but passed out from the pain on his back.

There were people fighting everywhere when I woke up. I saw Robin take out half a dozen, and Artemis taking out many more. A guy flew past, and I passed out again.

I was back in the infirmary, and everything was beeping. I looked to see Garfield holding my hand and whispering something.

"Don't give up, keep fighting, you'll be fine..." he said softly. And I passed out again.

When I finally came to for good, Garfield was asleep, his head on my lap. I stroked his hair out of his eyes, and tried to remember my days here. I faintly remembered, and a tear rolled down my cheek. My last few weeks had been torture, with endless beatings, and worse. I wanted to forget it all. But something stuck in my mind, something the leader had said.

YOU WILL COOPERATE, EVEN IF YOU DON'T KNOW IT YET.

Something told me that it wasn't over, and that's when I saw it. An odd series of numbers on my arm. They seemed to shimmer, and the whole world exploded. I squeezed my eyes shut, and when I opened them, I was back with the girl and her needles.

"Hallucinations, a marvelous thing." she cooed. I choked back tears. I was still here, Beast Boy hadn't come, I was still laughed, and left the room. The light switched off, and I was free to cry. The chains were jerked into the air, and I hung by my wrists, waiting for death.

The next day, he marked me. The girl with the needles came back, and tatooed some numbers on my back. I came to love the breaks I got right after I was gassed. He would beat me, but harder this time, and took pictures of my tatoo, and me on the floor, with my skin turning a nasty shade of purple, green, and yellow. He took close-ups of my face, and my back.

"Remember, it's their fault, they didn't listen." he whispered into my ear. From then on, I would catch imaginary glimpses of my friends through my container. But whenever I looked twice, they were gone. I started begging again, for freedom, relief, anything. One day, when it was particularly bad, I could have sworn I heard a sharp intake of breath. But I knew I imagined it, for the leader didn't hear. But once, they left the microphone out of the panel. They were having a conversation, right before my suffering of the day.

"Sir, may I remind you that it is alien technology, and you have only recently joined Cadmus? How you became leader is beyond me." the guard said. The leader chuckled.

"This alien technology will make us leaders on Earth, perhaps even other planets too. Besides, be careful what you say. It's listening. " the leader whispered. With a jolt I realised that I was the 'it'. He looked at me, sent the mic back into the panel, and pressed the button of eletrocution. That day started with a series of the worst punishments they had done yet. Once, through a series of electrocution, I could have sworn a notetaker winked at me. But I knew it was nothing. Soon, the day was over.

"You gas her when we've left. I'm thinking there's a leak near the bottom." The leader ordered the guard I thought had winked. He nodded, and watched everyone leave. Then, he pressed a button. But I didn't feel the familiar gas. Instead, the walls of my container vanished. The chain slowly lowered me to the ground, then clicked open. I fell on my side, and tried to stand, but I ended up falling onto him. I blinked, and Miss Martian was holding me steady.

"Really...you...not...needles?" I asked weakly. She looked at me, concerned.

"It's me, all right. What have they done to you? Never mind, let's get you out of here." She lifted me up, and something smashed through a nearby wall. Superboy. She handed me to him, and they began running through the newly made tunnel. Soon, we were outside, and soldiers were streaming out of the building. Superboy put me in a ship I didn't see until I was inside. They both jumped in after me, and the ship took off. I looked at my arms. No numbers. I smiled weakly.

"No...needles..." I whispered, then passed out.

This time, I didn't wake up to pain, or unfamiliar voices. I woke to the sound of beeping. When I opened my eyes, I was in the infirmary. I felt good, almost normal. I stood up, and no wave of dizziness, no passing out again. I tried to take a step, and that's when a dizziness hit me so hard I fell over. I hit my arm on the bed, and it made a loud thump. I cried out, and saw a cast on my arm. I heard footsteps, and Garfield ran in, worry on his face.

"Libby, you okay?" he asked, running over to help me up. When I was back on the bed, he hande me something. A new key.

"I'm pretty sure you don't have your old one. Oh yeah, did you see these yet?" he gestured towards a pile of clothes. "M'gahn made you a uniform. I think she's going to ask if you can join the team. She'd train you more, and then you could go on missions with us, and have a superhero name, and everything. In fact, I bet we'll help your mom move to Gotham! And when you're done, Batman wants you in the meeting room." he said. My head was swimming. Join the team? They would do that for me? I got changed, and looked at my reflection. It was beautiful. A purple unitard, with a lighter purple headband and matching cape. And comfy, dark purple slippers. I hung the key around my neck, and left the room. When I got to the meeting room, many unfamiliar heroes looked at me with curiosity. After introductions were made, Batman cleared his throat.

"Now, it is time to decide what to do with you. In the team, popular decision is for you to join them. We will have a majority vote, and if you join the team, stick with your decision." he explained.

"All in favour?" Wonder Woman asked. Everyone except Green Lantern and Rocket raised their hand.

"Libby, you are strong, brave, and you aren't afraid to do what you feel is right, even if no one agrees. All you need is hope, and a bit of training. We can give you those things. Would you like to join the team?" Nightwing asked. I nodded.

"Then, you are one of us now." Superman said. Garfield and Miss Martian hugged me, and I smiled, truly, for the first time in three weeks.

"Hey, Libby! I have to show you something!" Artemis yelled down the hallway. I followed her voice, and gasped. All of the members of my new team were standing in front of a door.

"Your new room!" Miss Martian said, floating with excitement. I opened the door, and looked in wonder. Every detail was exactly like my old room, except my walls were painted purple.

"How did you?..." I asked in shock.

"Wally has a photographic memory. Add that with what I remembered, and here we are." Garfield explained. I hugged all of them, and thought of something.

"Oh no, school!" I groaned. Everyone laughed.

"You can go to Gotham Academy, I'm sure we can get you in." Artemis offered. I nodded.

"But you're going to need a secret ID, or a superhero ID." Garfield pointed out. I thought for a few moments.

"How about Omega?" I suggested.

"Perfect." Wondergirl agreed.

As soon as the lunch bell rang, I began packing up my binder. It had been an easy first day so far, but I wanted to go home. After all, I loved being Omega. And I couldn't help but feel there was something important about that day. As I was walking to a shady tree to eat, a green butterfly flew over to me.

"Hi Garfield. What are you doing here?" I asked him. He morphed into a small bird, and perched on the tree.

"Just stopping by." he said. We talked for all of lunch, earning me a few weird looks. Every once in a while, he'd launch into a crazy story about our teammates, and I would laugh untill my sides hurt. I had forgotten how good having a friend was. After a while, the warning bell rang, and I ran into class in the nick of time.

When school finally ended, I stood on the steps, unsure of what to do next. A car pulled up, and Miss Martian unrolled the window, smiling.

"Let's go home, Omega." she said, and for the first time, I felt truly free.


End file.
